Century of the Dragon (1999)

Director: Clarence Yiu-Leung Fok

Producer: Wong Jing

Writer: Wong Jing

Cast: Andy Lau, Louis Koo, Patrick Tam, Anthony Wong, Siu-Kei Lee, Suki Kwan, Tin-chiu Wan

Running Time: 90 min.

Plot: An undercover cop Wong Chi-Sing (Louis Koo) is torn between his duty as a cop, and his friendship with Fei-Lone (Andy Lau), a former triad big-shot gone straight. When Fei-Lone's long-time friend Tong Pao (Anthony Wong) gets hurt during a triad-operation, Tong Pao's son, Tong Man Chun (Patrick Tam) steps into the picture to manipulate and lie his way to the top of the Hung-Hing society and to get his revenge on Fei-Lone.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: If there's one thing I hate about director Clarence Fok's work ("Cheap Killers", "H.K. Triad"), it's the fact that his films always seemed rushed and careless; this is evident, both in plot-elements and production (Wong Jing production, that is). Clarence... you're making a movie with Andy Lau, Louis Koo, Patrick Tam and Anthony Wong - do a good job for God's sake. Not that "Century of the Dragon" licked my Filipino balls or anything, it just could have been A LOT better. If this were filmed in the early 90's, it may have worked fine. But it was made in 1999, a time when Hong Kong film was dominated by the slick Benny Chan, the stylish Johnny To, and the gritty Ringo Lam. As for Clarence... well, he's still stuck in "Naked Killer"-land. You'd think he would have upgraded his skill, but he's still where he started. Time to move on, Fok-face...

So, what's good about the "Century of the Dragon"? The cast. For what they're given, they do a fine job. Andy Lau is his usual glossy-self - let's face it, the guy can't do wrong. Same goes for Louis Koo, with a little less energy. Patrick Tam is simply ULTRA-badass and charismatic as ever. Too bad his character is too over-the-top to be memorable; he starts out on the right track, but like the movie, his character gets sloppy and unbelievable (come on, would anyone with that much respect for their father start hurting him while he's a vegetable in bed?). And then there's Suki Kwan, who single handedly takes out a bunch of triads using knives, fire bombs and some Evel Knievel-like driving skills. It's never quite clear how she became the character from "My Wife is A Gangster" 2-years before Shin Eun-Kyung did. Sigh... but she was good. Basically, the entire cast all know they're doing some cheesy shit, but make the best of it to keep their reputation up.

With a little more thought, a few more takes, and some decent editing, "Century of the Dragon", with it's top-notch cast, could have been a Hong Kong gangster classic.

MIGHTY PEKING MAN'S REVIEW: 6.5/10

YI-LONG'S REVIEW: This movie really surprised me. When it starts out, it just seems like a lot of other Triad movies out there...Andy Lau is in, so is Anthony Wong (who is in A LOT of movies....I am just guessing this guy has NO personal life what-so-ever!). The plot is also pretty standard as it starts out, but soon you begin to notice, this movie could be something special....and it is! From the moment Patrick Tam enters the scene as Anthony Wong's son who has just returned from England, you can feel there is something special with this guy. Normally the bad guys in these kind of movies are those hardcore, street-smart and raw type of guys that shout a lot, wear cheap street-clothes and are unshaven. Not so with Patrick. He portrays a extremely smart, charismatic and dangerous guy, who's only goal is to destroy Andy Lau's character. His performance is just extremely outstanding. From the first scene until the last one, you can't help but admire his screen-presence.

Another good point of this movie...Andy Lau. These last couple of years, Andy has really improved a lot as an actor. He still usually plays the same kind of character in each movie he's in, but at least he has improved! Finally Louis Koo plays the undercover-cop, that was assigned to the mission to find some proof of illegal activities of Andy Lau. He instead becomes Andy's best friend and has problems convincing his seniors of the fact Andy isn't doing any illegal stuff anymore. Louis Koo is also pretty good in this movie, but he has played these type of roles many times before, so that was to be expected. The story runs along quite nicely, with some twists and surprises (like Andy's reaction to Louis Koo's confession he's an undercover cop...). The best thing about this movie is it's heart...You really get to know some of the characters and you begin to care for them somewhat more than might be the case with other movies of these kind. Great Movie!!!

YI-LONG'S RATING: 8.5/10